It has been known for quite some time for a character actor who is portraying a clown, animal, or the like to wear a separate costume substructure to simulate the body proportions of the particular creature that is being portrayed. Then the costume whose characteristics give the appearance of the external features of the creature is slipped on over the substructure. It is therefore possible to use a single substructure with any selected one of several costumes.
It has heretofore been the practice to use some type of padding material to provide the costume substructure. For example, foam plastic has often been used in recent years.
I have observed that the costume substructures commonly in use have had many disadvantages for the actors who wore them. Air circulation was poor, resulting in excessive perspiration of the wearer. The padded suits often inhibited proper breathing of the wearer, particularly when occupying a bent or cramped position. And finally, the padded suits presented a fire hazard which I felt was unnecessary and undesirable.
The object of the present invention, therefore, is to provide a novel type of costume substructure which is economical to manufacture, comfortable for the actor to wear, and is both safe and effective when used for its intended purpose.